Raiffeisen Bank International AG Buys Shares of 15,267 Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Raiffeisen Bank International AG bought a new stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 15,267 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $76,196,000. Booking accounts for 1.2% of Raiffeisen Bank International AG’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest position.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Booking by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 31 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $158,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the period. SageView Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 124 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $616,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the period. Belpointe Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 95 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $472,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Booking by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Booking by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC now owns 64 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $318,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Booking Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of BKNG opened at $5,216.55 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $4,700.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $4,864.57. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $3,180.00 and a 12 month high of $5,337.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $169.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.42.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $24.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $17.57 by $7.24. The business had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.58 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $20.39 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.89%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on BKNG shares. BTIG Research raised Booking from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $5,500.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,120.00 to $5,077.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Cfra raised Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $5,900.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,299.29.

Booking Profile

Booking Holdings Inc, formerly The Priceline Group Inc, is a provider of travel and restaurant online reservation and related services. The Company, through its online travel companies (OTCs), connects consumers wishing to make travel reservations with providers of travel services across the world. It offers consumers an array of accommodation reservations (including hotels, bed and breakfasts, hostels, apartments, vacation rentals and other properties) through its Booking.com, priceline.com and agoda.com brands.